A.N. Fact: You do not realize how often you use the "a" and "c" keys until you are using a laptop missing those.
The two teams returned to the police station, mostly friends, despite the circumstances under which they'd met. Sare was more than a little wary of the BAU, but the rest of her team got on nicely with them.
They went over the known facts of the case, the Mind Games group offering a new take on what the BAU knew.
Sare looked at the pictures of the bodies and tipped her head. "It's disorganized. The victimology is completely scattered. The only constant is the MO."
"Do you even know what victimology and MO mean?" Morgan asked scathingly.
Sare narrowed her eyes but said nothing.
The two teams worked together almost flawlessly. Things went well, except everything Sare said was met with disbelief, driving the girl mad. After one too many slights and insults, she had had enough.
Sare stood up and grabbed her bag. After moving away from the table she pushed her chair in hard. Everyone looked at her. "If you're not going to listen to me, I see no use in being here."
She ran out of the room. Hunter and his team stared after her.
Hunter scowled at Hotch and his team. "Sare's fought hard to be accepted in this field at her age. She used to come into cases hostile and ready to fight for her right to be there. But, at the moment, her walls are down. She's just getting back on her feet after things went wrong three months ago. She's not secure."
Reid looked down at his feet. He knew how Sare felt. Gideon had always introduced him as "Dr. Reid" because he was so young. He was no Sare, but he had been in a very similar situation.
Sare rushed up Market Street in tears. She couldn't believe that the FBI agents had refused to listen to her, fighting down her every idea. Her team had tried to help, but it hadn't been enough.
There were only two places Sare felt safe—libraries and wherever her team was. One of those places had been torn from her, so she was racing towards her only refuge.
The automatic doors opened as Sare passed through the foyer. Her nearly silent sobs felt overwhelmingly loud in the quiet building. She headed straight for the teen section, and, throwing her bag in a chair, went to find a book.
She grabbed one at random. Curling up around herself she tried to read, but tears blurred the words beyond recognition.
The BAU team looked quietly at Hunter. They had chosen not to listen to Sare, telling themselves that, as a teenager, she couldn't possibly know what she was talking about. But Hunter's words made them realize how wrong they had been.
"Should we go after her?" JJ asked.
Hunter shook his head. "I'll go in a few minutes. She has a temper, and in this state she's liable to lash out at anybody who comes near her, either verbally or through a barrage of kicks, and she kicks hard. I'm going to give her time to calm down."
"But how will you find her?"
Hunter grinned crookedly. "I know exactly where she'll have gone."
Hunter and Reid walked through the town. In the end, Hunter had allowed Reid to come with him because of the similarities between the genius and Sare.
When they entered the library, Hunter led Reid through the stacks to the teen section. Sare was curled exactly where Hunter had thought she would be, in the blue chair she loved.
Hunter sat on the ground beside the chair, and Reid stood behind him.
"Sare."
The girl looked up. Her glasses sat, alongside a book, on the table next to the chair. Both her eyes and nose were red with crying. "Hey, Hunter." She caught sight of Reid behind Hunter and tried to rise, but Hunter caught her by the shoulders and pressed her back into the seat.
"Sare, he's been in the same situation as you."
Sare raised her eyebrows. "He's been a teenage girl in a high ranking and highly secretive government job?"
Hunter sighed. "Sare..."
Reid looked at her. "Not exactly, but I was the youngest FBI agent in history. Another agent always introduced me as Dr. Reid because he didn't want people to see me as young, so people would take me seriously."
Sare snorted. "Yeah, but I don't have a doctoral degree to back me up."
"Three doctoral degrees."
"Right. I don't have three doctoral degrees to back me up. I haven't even graduated high school."
Hunter cut Sare off. "Sare, they're willing to give you another chance."
"Are they?" Sare snapped. "Or did they just say that to make you happy?"
"Sare."
Sare stood up, threw her bag over her shoulder, and stalked towards the entrance of the library. Hunter and Reid shared a look, then rushed after the girl.
Sare reentered the room in stony silence. Glaring at the BAU team, she reclaimed the seat she had so violently vacated not long earlier.
Monny looked at Sare, her blue braids swinging. "You okay, sweetheart?"
Sare brushed her hair behind her ear. "As okay as I'm gonna be. I'll be better if I'll actually be listened to. I mean, despite being young, I do know what I'm talking about." Her voice was sharp.
"Sare." Hunter's warning voice came from the doorway, which he and Reid had just reached. "Calm down."
Sare glared at him. She seemed to be literally biting her tongue to avoid replying. Turning quickly, Sare buried herself in her case file, ignoring those around her.
Hunter sighed and sat back down. "What do we know?"
NazzyWazzy: Yeah, like I said, couldn't resist doing that to Reid.,
The Devil's Girlfriend: Glad it helped. Which Reid jokes, specifically?
.Stars: I remembered! You're welcome!
Colleen: I can't type, either...
Draxus: Yeah, me too...